Crypto & Cardio #13 - will 'blockchain' be an evolution or revolution?

In today's video I discuss cryptocurrency being stuck between two stools. Namely will cryptocurrency and blockchain technology be a revolution that not disrupts but transforms the way things work. Or will it be assimilated into existing industries and help them evolve in an ever changing technical landscape.

Neflix/ Blockbuster

An analogue can be drawn to the situation regarding online streaming of video content. Blockbuster was the dominate player in the DVD rental market and had developed a model of mailing DVDs to customers. Blockbuster was approached by the owner of Netflix, a fledging online streaming company to buy them out for $50m. It was an opportunity for Blockbuster to evolve. Blockbuster refused. Netflix became what it is today and the rest (including Blockbuster video) was history.

What camp?

I see a lot of parallels with cryptocurrencies today.

I like to break things down into simple principles.We have a lot of things happening in the cryptocurrency space. For me it comes down to the nature in which cryptocurrency will change society.

Will it revolution things or be a more gentle evolution?

Medium of exchange/ Store of value

For example if we look at the debate around Bitcoin and whether it should be a medium of exchange or a store of value.

To my mind the store of value argument falls into the evolution realm. Ultimately it is looking at bitcoin and saying 'it's similar to gold and why not have it as an alternative store a value. Let the gold bugs and the bitcoin maximalists argue on the fringes about which is the safer hedge against a financial Armageddon.' Whilst this would have utility it is not going revolutionise the way people live their day-to-day lives.

However if you look at the medium of exchange argument, that would revolutionise the we live and do our day-to-day transacting with each other.

Public blockchain/ Private blockchain

Similarly if we look at the debate around public and private blockchain. A private blockchain is an evolution of the way existing business and institutions operate. It's just a more secure (albeit and inefficient one) improvement to their database architecture.

Business operating on a public blockchain will need a fundamental rethink on how they operate.

Free fair launch vs ICOs

Even down to the funding models surrounding Cryptocurrencies. There was a time when it was anathema to have anything but a free a fair launch of a blockchain. With no premine or tokens reserved for anyone. This makes sense if you're looking to launch a chain which is going to be the bedrock of society or used as a global currency, you want it's inception and initial allocation to be as far and as open as possible.

If however you're looking to simply raise funding for a business idea, using an ICO to tokenise the idea as alternate method of raising funds may make sense. However it nothing more than an evolution fund-raising. Often beyond raising capital the value proposition of the token itself makes little or no sense.

Communities/ SMTs

Even in Steem the principles apply.

SMTs could be seen as an evolution, that enables existing websites to tokenise and incentives user interaction.

Whereas Communites on the Steem blockchain is a revolution that we're inviting people to join.

What we talking about

Whenever I get into conversations or debates with people about cryptocurrency, I like to understand as a starting where they're coming from. Are they trying to evolve or revolutionise. If you haven't guessed what side of the fence I sit, you'll have to watch the video to find out!

Well @nanzo-scoop such a complete and composed review on the debate of evolution and revolution i found in this blog of yours. There is no doubt at all that technological advancement are happening all over the world with every passing moment and so is the case with the digital currency. To be very honest I do believe that future belongs to crypto-currency and I have no doubts about it.
Sometimes, value of the currency goes up mostly goes down but in the end i am unable to understand the variation occurs, I mean how it occurs?

Overall it was much informative blog and I salute your analysis power, Such a Great Brain Ladies and Gents <3

Hi
I think cryptocurrency and the blockchain is already one of the most disruptive financial occurrences of this century and it will revolutionize financial and other transactions, as well as other areas like communications. The amazing thing is how it existed below the radar building a base of users and then exploded into the limelight in December, 2017 when Bitcoin’s price was near 20,000. Suddenly everyone new the word Bitcoin and suddenly banks and other financial concerns had to respond to all the inquiries, try to maintain market share and try to control the narrative about this disruptive and revolutionary entity called cryptocurrency.

Additionally, this huge thirst to understand cryptocurrency lead to people trying to understand the terms used to describe cryptocurrency like decentralization. I feel that in order for people to understand how cryptocurrency was different, they needed to understand the banking and monetary system which existed before cryptocurrency. This to me was revolutionary, as large numbers of people were learning that their financial systems were centralized and much of what happened was hidden from them. Indeed learning why cryptocurrency was such a revolutionarily different system educated people about both systems and led to inevitable comparisons and criticisms of the traditional banking systems. We are talking about a revolution!

As for me, I came into this space to mine cryptocurrency. I built two miners, learned how inadequate my education was along the way and taught myself. After that I discovered staking wallets which I thought and still think are very attractive instruments, initially I liked them because I thought they allowed me to preserve capitol and generate rewards/money. But soon I learned how high ROI coins suffer from inflated numbers and deflated prices. But I still stake and still profit from some coins and certainly lost money on some coins. Then I discovered masternodes and after building a masternode in 3-4 different coins, which was very challenging, I discovered shared masternode which I invested in with good results. Then I discovered platforms which do all the work of building your masternodes like Gin and XAP, but they don’t have the risks of shared masternodes. Along the way I added tremendously to my dictionary of words and feel partially fluent in cryptoese as a second language. By the way master nodes are a revolution inside the revolution. Next, I discovered Steemit, a truly revolutionary social media platform, which I believe also believe is revolutionary. Please excuse the repeated use of the word, but no other terms seems adequate to explain what’s happening.

When I look at this space called cryptocurrency, I see a financial and potentially large scale social revolution. I also see an amazing evolving entity. The evolution of many of the elements in this space like cryptocurrency mining, staking wallets and masternodes is amazing. Capitalism is one of the strongest motivating forces on earth. The changes it brings occur at an amazing pace. Those that are attentive are witnessing something truly unique, which will be written about in the future. I can almost hear people saying: Where were you the day Bitcoin hit 20,000?That will be the new defining moment question.

Hi @shortsegments,
This is a very impressive reply to this article, but it seems a bit long for a comment.
A well written piece of work, but most people are going to read it. Which is unfortunate because your article is interesting.
But, I digress. I agree that Bitcoin and the Blockchain are revolutionary.
I am very interested in your comments about Masternodes and I would appreciate a link to any good articles on them that you think will help me understand them better.

Well I do think that it is both an evolution and a revolution.
Technically it is more like a evolution of a distributed database concept, but then much more advanced and for sure with the smart contracts it offers much more possibilities.
The crypotocurrency is the revolution, this is would change the way companies interact, people paying their bills and so on! The bank could be the next Blockbuster, but they won't. They could transfer this business model, to a more advanced and secure crypto wallet kind of business.

Also for lots of middle men, this could be a revolution because in same cases their reason for existence could vaporize over time!

Also we have to look at the human behavior. In most cases people don't want revolutions but do support evolution (if it comes to technology, not referring to a political evolution or revolution).

Can't watch the vid at work, so that will be for this evening.
Cheers,
Peter

It’s a revolution in evolution or a revolution which is evolving during the revolution. We won’t know what the final product looks like until it gets here and that product will also change.@shortsegments said I should check out your blog!
He said you were writing and talking about important things in the “cryptosphere”, he’s very creative. I am into flowers. But I understand what your saying and enjoyed this article, so now I follow you.
☺️

Hello
I think Bitcoin is a revolutionary, disruptive entity. I understand some people feel it should be a store of value like gold and others think it should be a medium of exchange like “fiat” but I think Why can’t it be both?
😉